Catholic Evangelization Training Center
Training in the NEW Evangelization
1 Maccabees Chapter 4-6
1 Now Gorgias took five thousand infantry and a thousand picked cavalry, and this division moved out by night
2 to fall upon the camp of the Jews and attack them suddenly. Men from the citadel were his guides.
3 But Judas heard of it, and he and his mighty men moved out to attack the king's force in Emmaus
4 while the division was still absent from the camp.
5 When Gorgias entered the camp of Judas by night, he found no one there, so he looked for them in the hills, because he said, "These men are fleeing from us."
6 At daybreak Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand men, but they did not have armor and swords such as they desired.
7 And they saw the camp of the Gentiles, strong and fortified, with cavalry round about it; and these men were trained in war.
8 But Judas said to the men who were with him, "Do not fear their numbers or be afraid when they charge.
9 Remember how our fathers were saved at the Red Sea, when Pharaoh with his forces pursued them.
10 And now let us cry to Heaven, to see whether he will favor us and remember his covenant with our fathers and crush this army before us today.
11 Then all the Gentiles will know that there is one who redeems and saves Israel."
12 When the foreigners looked up and saw them coming against them,
13 they went forth from their camp to battle. Then the men with Judas blew their trumpets
14 and engaged in battle. The Gentiles were crushed and fled into the plain,
15 and all those in the rear fell by the sword. They pursued them to Gazara, and to the plains of Idumea, and to Azotus and Jamnia; and three thousand of them fell.
16 Then Judas and his force turned back from pursuing them,
17 and he said to the people, "Do not be greedy for plunder, for there is a battle before us;
18 Gorgias and his force are near us in the hills. But stand now against our enemies and fight them, and afterward seize the plunder boldly."
19 Just as Judas was finishing this speech, a detachment appeared, coming out of the hills.
20 They saw that their army had been put to flight, and that the Jews were burning the camp, for the smoke that was seen showed what had happened.
21 When they perceived this they were greatly frightened, and when they also saw the army of Judas drawn up in the plain for battle,
22 they all fled into the land of the Philistines.
23 Then Judas returned to plunder the camp, and they seized much gold and silver, and cloth dyed blue and sea purple, and great riches.
24 On their return they sang hymns and praises to Heaven, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever.
25 Thus Israel had a great deliverance that day.
26 Those of the foreigners who escaped went and reported to Lysias all that had happened.
27 When he heard it, he was perplexed and discouraged, for things had not happened to Israel as he had intended, nor had they turned out as the king had commanded him.
28 But the next year he mustered sixty thousand picked infantrymen and five thousand cavalry to subdue them.
29 They came into Idumea and encamped at Beth-zur, and Judas met them with ten thousand men.
30 When he saw that the army was strong, he prayed, saying, "Blessed art thou, O Savior of Israel, who didst crush the attack of the mighty warrior by the hand of thy servant David, and didst give the camp of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and of the man who carried his armor.
31 So do thou hem in this army by the hand of thy people Israel, and let them be ashamed of their troops and their cavalry.
32 Fill them with cowardice; melt the boldness of their strength; let them tremble in their destruction.
33 Strike them down with the sword of those who love thee, and let all who know thy name praise thee with hymns."
34 Then both sides attacked, and there fell of the army of Lysias five thousand men; they fell in action.
35 And when Lysias saw the rout of his troops and observed the boldness which inspired those of Judas, and how ready they were either to live or to die nobly, he departed to Antioch and enlisted mercenaries, to invade Judea again with an even larger army.
36 Then said Judas and his brothers, "Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it."
37 So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion.
38 And they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins.
39 Then they rent their clothes, and mourned with great lamentation, and sprinkled themselves with ashes.
40 They fell face down on the ground, and sounded the signal on the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven.
41 Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary.
42 He chose blameless priests devoted to the law,
43 and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place.
44 They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned.
45 And they thought it best to tear it down, lest it bring reproach upon them, for the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar,
46 and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them.
47 Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one.
48 They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts.
49 They made new holy vessels, and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple.
50 Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and these gave light in the temple.
51 They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken.
52 Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year,
53 they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering which they had built.
54 At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals.
55 All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them.
56 So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness; they offered a sacrifice of deliverance and praise.
57 They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and furnished them with doors.
58 There was very great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was removed.
59 Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.
60 At that time they fortified Mount Zion with high walls and strong towers round about, to keep the Gentiles from coming and trampling them down as they had done before.
61 And he stationed a garrison there to hold it. He also fortified Beth-zur, so that the people might have a stronghold that faced Idumea.
1 When the Gentiles round about heard that the altar had been built and the sanctuary dedicated as it was before, they became very angry,
2 and they determined to destroy the descendants of Jacob who lived among them. So they began to kill and destroy among the people.
3 But Judas made war on the sons of Esau in Idumea, at Akrabattene, because they kept lying in wait for Israel. He dealt them a heavy blow and humbled them and despoiled them.
4 He also remembered the wickedness of the sons of Baean, who were a trap and a snare to the people and ambushed them on the highways.
5 They were shut up by him in their towers; and he encamped against them, vowed their complete destruction, and burned with fire their towers and all who were in them.
6 Then he crossed over to attack the Ammonites, where he found a strong band and many people with Timothy as their leader.
7 He engaged in many battles with them and they were crushed before him; he struck them down.
8 He also took Jazer and its villages; then he returned to Judea.
9 Now the Gentiles in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who lived in their territory, and planned to destroy them. But they fled to the stronghold of Dathema,
10 and sent to Judas and his brothers a letter which said, "The Gentiles around us have gathered together against us to destroy us.
11 They are preparing to come and capture the stronghold to which we have fled, and Timothy is leading their forces.
12 Now then come and rescue us from their hands, for many of us have fallen,
13 and all our brethren who were in the land of Tob have been killed; the enemy have captured their wives and children and goods, and have destroyed about a thousand men there."
14 While the letter was still being read, behold, other messengers, with their garments rent, came from Galilee and made a similar report;
15 they said that against them had gathered together men of Ptolemais and Tyre and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles, "to annihilate us."
16 When Judas and the people heard these messages, a great assembly was called to determine what they should do for their brethren who were in distress and were being attacked by enemies.
17 Then Judas said to Simon his brother, "Choose your men and go and rescue your brethren in Galilee; I and Jonathan my brother will go to Gilead."
18 But he left Joseph, the son of Zechariah, and Azariah, a leader of the people, with the rest of the forces, in Judea to guard it;
19 and he gave them this command, "Take charge of this people, but do not engage in battle with the Gentiles until we return."
20 Then three thousand men were assigned to Simon to go to Galilee, and eight thousand to Judas for Gilead.
21 so Simon went to Galilee and fought many battles against the Gentiles, and the Gentiles were crushed before him.
22 He pursued them to the gate of Ptolemais, and as many as three thousand of the Gentiles fell, and he despoiled them.
23 Then he took the Jews of Galilee and Arbatta, with their wives and children, and all they possessed, and led them to Judea with great rejoicing.
24 Judas Maccabeus and Jonathan his brother crossed the Jordan and went three days' journey into the wilderness.
25 They encountered the Nabateans, who met them peaceably and told them all that had happened to their brethren in Gilead:
26 "Many of them have been shut up in Bozrah and Bosor, in Alema and Chaspho, Maked and Carnaim" -- all these cities were strong and large--
27 "and some have been shut up in the other cities of Gilead; the enemy are getting ready to attack the strongholds tomorrow and take and destroy all these men in one day."
28 Then Judas and his army quickly turned back by the wilderness road to Bozrah; and he took the city, and killed every male by the edge of the sword; then he seized all its spoils and burned it with fire.
29 He departed from there at night, and they went all the way to the stronghold of Dathema.
30 At dawn they looked up, and behold, a large company, that could not be counted, carrying ladders and engines of war to capture the stronghold, and attacking the Jews within.
31 So Judas saw that the battle had begun and that the cry of the city went up to Heaven with trumpets and loud shouts,
32 and he said to the men of his forces, "Fight today for your brethren!"
33 Then he came up behind them in three companies, who sounded their trumpets and cried aloud in prayer.
34 And when the army of Timothy realized that it was Maccabeus, they fled before him, and he dealt them a heavy blow. As many as eight thousand of them fell that day.
35 Next he turned aside to Alema, and fought against it and took it; and he killed every male in it, plundered it, and burned it with fire.
36 From there he marched on and took Chaspho, Maked, and Bosor, and the other cities of Gilead.
37 After these things Timothy gathered another army and encamped opposite Raphon, on the other side of the stream.
38 Judas sent men to spy out the camp, and they reported to him, "All the Gentiles around us have gathered to him; it is a very large force.
39 They also have hired Arabs to help them, and they are encamped across the stream, ready to come and fight against you." And Judas went to meet them.
40 Now as Judas and his army drew near to the stream of water, Timothy said to the officers of his forces, "If he crosses over to us first, we will not be able to resist him, for he will surely defeat us.
41 But if he shows fear and camps on the other side of the river, we will cross over to him and defeat him."
42 When Judas approached the stream of water, he stationed the scribes of the people at the stream and gave them this command, "Permit no man to encamp, but make them all enter the battle."
43 Then he crossed over against them first, and the whole army followed him. All the Gentiles were defeated before him, and they threw away their arms and fled into the sacred precincts at Carnaim.
44 But he took the city and burned the sacred precincts with fire, together with all who were in them. Thus Carnaim was conquered; they could stand before Judas no longer.
45 Then Judas gathered together all the Israelites in Gilead, the small and the great, with their wives and children and goods, a very large company, to go to the land of Judah.
46 So they came to Ephron. This was a large and very strong city on the road, and they could not go round it to the right or to the left; they had to go through it.
47 But the men of the city shut them out and blocked up the gates with stones.
48 And Judas sent them this friendly message, "Let us pass through your land to get to our land. No one will do you harm; we will simply pass by on foot." But they refused to open to him.
49 Then Judas ordered proclamation to be made to the army that each should encamp where he was.
50 So the men of the forces encamped, and he fought against the city all that day and all the night, and the city was delivered into his hands.
51 He destroyed every male by the edge of the sword, and razed and plundered the city. Then he passed through the city over the slain.
52 And they crossed the Jordan into the large plain before Beth-shan.
53 And Judas kept rallying the laggards and encouraging the people all the way till he came to the land of Judah.
54 So they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy, and offered burnt offerings, because not one of them had fallen before they returned in safety.
55 Now while Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead and Simon his brother was in Galilee before Ptolemais,
56 Joseph, the son of Zechariah, and Azariah, the commanders of the forces, heard of their brave deeds and of the heroic war they had fought.
57 So they said, "Let us also make a name for ourselves; let us go and make war on the Gentiles around us."
58 And they issued orders to the men of the forces that were with them, and they marched against Jamnia.
59 And Gorgias and his men came out of the city to meet them in battle.
60 Then Joseph and Azariah were routed, and were pursued to the borders of Judea; as many as two thousand of the people of Israel fell that day.
61 Thus the people suffered a great rout because, thinking to do a brave deed, they did not listen to Judas and his brothers.
62 But they did not belong to the family of those men through whom deliverance was given to Israel.
63 The man Judas and his brothers were greatly honored in all Israel and among all the Gentiles, wherever their name was heard.
64 Men gathered to them and praised them.
65 Then Judas and his brothers went forth and fought the sons of Esau in the land to the south. He struck Hebron and its villages and tore down its strongholds and burned its towers round about.
66 Then he marched off to go into the land of the Philistines, and passed through Marisa.
67 On that day some priests, who wished to do a brave deed, fell in battle, for they went out to battle unwisely.
68 But Judas turned aside to Azotus in the land of the Philistines; he tore down their altars, and the graven images of their gods he burned with fire; he plundered the cities and returned to the land of Judah.
1 King Antiochus was going through the upper provinces when he heard that Elymais in Persia was a city famed for its wealth in silver and gold.
2 Its temple was very rich, containing golden shields, breastplates, and weapons left there by Alexander, the son of Philip, the Macedonian king who first reigned over the Greeks.
3 So he came and tried to take the city and plunder it, but he could not, because his plan became known to the men of the city
4 and they withstood him in battle. So he fled and in great grief departed from there to return to Babylon.
5 Then some one came to him in Persia and reported that the armies which had gone into the land of Judah had been routed;
6 that Lysias had gone first with a strong force, but had turned and fled before the Jews; that the Jews had grown strong from the arms, supplies, and abundant spoils which they had taken from the armies they had cut down;
7 that they had torn down the abomination which he had erected upon the altar in Jerusalem; and that they had surrounded the sanctuary with high walls as before, and also Beth-zur, his city.
8 When the king heard this news, he was astounded and badly shaken. He took to his bed and became sick from grief, because things had not turned out for him as he had planned.
9 He lay there for many days, because deep grief continually gripped him, and he concluded that he was dying.
10 So he called all his friends and said to them, "Sleep departs from my eyes and I am downhearted with worry.
11 I said to myself, `To what distress I have come! And into what a great flood I now am plunged! For I was kind and beloved in my power.'
12 But now I remember the evils I did in Jerusalem. I seized all her vessels of silver and gold; and I sent to destroy the inhabitants of Judah without good reason.
13 I know that it is because of this that these evils have come upon me; and behold, I am perishing of deep grief in a strange land."
14 Then he called for Philip, one of his friends, and made him ruler over all his kingdom.
15 He gave him the crown and his robe and the signet, that he might guide Antiochus his son and bring him up to be king.
16 Thus Antiochus the king died there in the one hundred and forty-ninth year.
17 And when Lysias learned that the king was dead, he set up Antiochus the king's son to reign. Lysias had brought him up as a boy, and he named him Eupator.
18 Now the men in the citadel kept hemming Israel in around the sanctuary. They were trying in every way to harm them and strengthen the Gentiles.
19 So Judas decided to destroy them, and assembled all the people to besiege them.
20 They gathered together and besieged the citadel in the one hundred and fiftieth year; and he built siege towers and other engines of war.
21 But some of the garrison escaped from the siege and some of the ungodly Israelites joined them.
22 They went to the king and said, "How long will you fail to do justice and to avenge our brethren?
23 We were happy to serve your father, to live by what he said and to follow his commands.
24 For this reason the sons of our people besieged the citadel and became hostile to us; moreover, they have put to death as many of us as they have caught, and they have seized our inheritances.
25 And not against us alone have they stretched out their hands, but also against all the lands on their borders.
26 And behold, today they have encamped against the citadel in Jerusalem to take it; they have fortified both the sanctuary and Beth-zur;
27 and unless you quickly prevent them, they will do still greater things, and you will not be able to stop them."
28 The king was enraged when he heard this. He assembled all his friends, the commanders of his forces and those in authority.
29 And mercenary forces came to him from other kingdoms and from islands of the seas.
30 The number of his forces was a hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants accustomed to war.
31 They came through Idumea and encamped against Beth-zur, and for many days they fought and built engines of war; but the Jews sallied out and burned these with fire, and fought manfully.
32 Then Judas marched away from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zechariah, opposite the camp of the king.
33 Early in the morning the king rose and took his army by a forced march along the road to Beth-zechariah, and his troops made ready for battle and sounded their trumpets.
34 They showed the elephants the juice of grapes and mulberries, to arouse them for battle.
35 And they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes; with each elephant they stationed a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and with brass helmets on their heads; and five hundred picked horsemen were assigned to each beast.
36 These took their position beforehand wherever the beast was; wherever it went they went with it, and they never left it.
37 And upon the elephants were wooden towers, strong and covered; they were fastened upon each beast by special harness, and upon each were four armed men who fought from there, and also its Indian driver.
38 The rest of the horsemen were stationed on either side, on the two flanks of the army, to harass the enemy while being themselves protected by the phalanxes.
39 When the sun shone upon the shields of gold and brass, the hills were ablaze with them and gleamed like flaming torches.
40 Now a part of the king's army was spread out on the high hills, and some troops were on the plain, and they advanced steadily and in good order.
41 All who heard the noise made by their multitude, by the marching of the multitude and the clanking of their arms, trembled, for the army was very large and strong.
42 But Judas and his army advanced to the battle, and six hundred men of the king's army fell.
43 And Eleazar, called Avaran, saw that one of the beasts was equipped with royal armor. It was taller than all the others, and he supposed that the king was upon it.
44 So he gave his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name.
45 He courageously ran into the midst of the phalanx to reach it; he killed men right and left, and they parted before him on both sides.
46 He got under the elephant, stabbed it from beneath, and killed it; but it fell to the ground upon him and he died.
47 And when the Jews saw the royal might and the fierce attack of the forces, they turned away in flight.
48 The soldiers of the king's army went up to Jerusalem against them, and the king encamped in Judea and at Mount Zion.
49 He made peace with the men of Beth-zur, and they evacuated the city, because they had no provisions there to withstand a siege, since it was a sabbatical year for the land.
50 So the king took Beth-zur and stationed a guard there to hold it.
51 Then he encamped before the sanctuary for many days. He set up siege towers, engines of war to throw fire and stones, machines to shoot arrows, and catapults.
52 The Jews also made engines of war to match theirs, and fought for many days.
53 But they had no food in storage, because it was the seventh year; those who found safety in Judea from the Gentiles had consumed the last of the stores.
54 Few men were left in the sanctuary, because famine had prevailed over the rest and they had been scattered, each to his own place.
55 Then Lysias heard that Philip, whom King Antiochus while still living had appointed to bring up Antiochus his son to be king,
56 had returned from Persia and Media with the forces that had gone with the king, and that he was trying to seize control of the government.
57 So he quickly gave orders to depart, and said to the king, to the commanders of the forces, and to the men, "We daily grow weaker, our food supply is scant, the place against which we are fighting is strong, and the affairs of the kingdom press urgently upon us.
58 Now then let us come to terms with these men, and make peace with them and with all their nation,
59 and agree to let them live by their laws as they did before; for it was on account of their laws which we abolished that they became angry and did all these things."
60 The speech pleased the king and the commanders, and he sent to the Jews an offer of peace, and they accepted it.
61 So the king and the commanders gave them their oath. On these conditions the Jews evacuated the stronghold.
62 But when the king entered Mount Zion and saw what a strong fortress the place was, he broke the oath he had sworn and gave orders to tear down the wall all around.
63 Then he departed with haste and returned to Antioch. He found Philip in control of the city, but he fought against him, and took the city by force.